The 2025 / 2026 intern cohort at Mātai are (from rear left) Ned Clarke, Noah Mason, Nicholas Kane, Mathew Sung. Seated in the middle (from left) are Cheidan Moetara, Frankie Muir, Ella Arthur, Miah Somerton, Paris Riria Maxwell and in front (from left) are Mātai COO Leigh Potter, Naiya Powley, Keeley Cairns, Imogen Amor-Bendall, Tui Cave and University of Auckland Associate Professor Samantha Holdsworth, the Mātai research director and chief executive. Absent are Ky Bartlett and Jamila Fleming. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
The 2025 / 2026 intern cohort at Mātai are (from rear left) Ned Clarke, Noah Mason, Nicholas Kane, Mathew Sung. Seated in the middle (from left) are Cheidan Moetara, Frankie Muir, Ella Arthur, Miah Somerton, Paris Riria Maxwell and in front (from left) are Mātai COO Leigh Potter, Naiya Powley, Keeley Cairns, Imogen Amor-Bendall, Tui Cave and University of Auckland Associate Professor Samantha Holdsworth, the Mātai research director and chief executive. Absent are Ky Bartlett and Jamila Fleming. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
A group of summer interns have completed their 10-week programme with Mātai Medical Research Institute in Gisborne, making meaningful contributions to important scientific projects along the way.
Mātai said the 2025-2026 interns had sessions on how MRI works, research methods, mātauranga Māori, neuropsychiatry, statistics and leadership development.
Guest speakers spoketo them about kaupapa Māori biomedical research, career pathways, research and commercialisation, the inclusion of neurodevelopmentally and behaviourally complex children in medical research, artificial intelligence and genetics and molecular biology and more.
“The programme also offered opportunities for community engagement and wellbeing activities, including with iwi health through Tūranga Health and Manawaru, waiata at Gisborne Hospital, sports days and hands-on experiences such as robotics with Tōnui Collab,” Mātai said in a statement.
Ella Arthur (Ngāi Te Rangi) is a Bachelor of Dental Surgery student at the University of Otago. Her research explores non-traumatic dental presentations to Tairāwhiti Hospital’s Emergency Department, examining who is seeking urgent dental care and why.
“I want to better understand the barriers people face in accessing dental care,” Arthur said.
“If we can identify where inequities exist, we can start to improve pathways so people receive timely, appropriate care, rather than ending up in emergency departments.”
Naiya Powley reviewing the data from the study in real time with Mātai MRI technologist Taylor Emsden. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
Naiya Powley has just completed her first year of physiotherapy at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Her project focuses on developing a system that links real-time oxygen and carbon dioxide measurements with MRI scans.
This work supports studies investigating how the brain responds to changes in blood gases, helping to improve understanding of vascular function in both healthy individuals and people living with conditions such as stroke or sleep apnoea.
Nicholas Kane has recently completed his Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Auckland.
His research examined how alcohol use, smoking, illicit substance use and gambling addiction may be associated with visual dysfunction.
By reviewing existing literature, Kane helped identify gaps in current knowledge and highlighted areas requiring further investigation.
Paris Riria Maxwell (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki) will undertake a Bachelor of Commercial Music at Toi Ohomai/Massey University, minoring in philosophy.
Their project focused on the occipital lobe (the area at the back of the brain responsible for processing vision) and the white-matter tracts (communication pathways connecting different parts of the brain).
Maxwell aimed to understand whether long-term methamphetamine use may damage or alter these pathways, potentially affecting how visual information is processed.
Noah Mason completed a Bachelor of Science in biomedical science at the University of Auckland in 2025.
His research explored whether measuring how brain tissue deforms (known as strain), rather than only how it moves, can better detect differences in brain health using Mātai-amplified MRI (aMRI) technology.
The project aimed to determine whether strain-based measures could more clearly distinguish between different groups, such as people living with dementia and healthy control participants.
Miah Somerton (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Oneone) is a physiotherapy student at AUT.
Her project explored Māori perspectives on research data use, contributing to the strengthening of Māori data sovereignty at Mātai.
“Being part of a programme so deeply connected to the Tairāwhiti community has been incredibly grounding,” she said.
“It’s shown me how research can be done in a way that respects people, culture, and data as taonga.”
Imogen Amor-Bendall recently completed her undergraduate degree in neuroscience at the University of Otago and contributed to the Methamphetamine Recovery Study at Mātai, with a focus on heart health measures.
Jamila Fleming (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu) recently graduated with a Bachelor of Psychological Science from the University of Canterbury, with a minor in Māori and indigenous studies and psychological wellbeing.
Her research used advanced MRI techniques to investigate whether changes in blood supply and how evenly it is distributed could help improve understanding of how Parkinson’s affects brain function.
Keeley Cairns has completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, majoring in human genetics and molecular pathology, at Victoria University of Wellington and will begin a clinically focused master’s programme in 2026.
Over the summer, she contributed to early feasibility work for a clinical research project aimed at improving support and health outcomes for people living with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Ky Tauiru Bartlett (Ngāti Porou) completed his first year of a Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland, majoring in exercise science, and hopes to pursue a career in physiotherapy.
Over the summer, he worked on a project which explored whether measurements of brain motion and blood flow remain consistent when heart rate varies in a controlled way.
Mathew Sung is a second-year student studying medicine and surgery at the University of Otago.
His research investigates whether individuals who have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be more likely to develop visual difficulties later in life.
This work is particularly important, given how common TBIs are following car accidents, falls, assaults and sports-related injuries and how little is currently known about their long-term effects on vision.
Tui Cave and Ned Clarke worked together on developing quantitative approaches to a new MRI method that could help with better detection of brain disorders. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
Ned Clarke (Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Rongowhakaata) and Tui Cave (Rongowhakaata) worked on developing quantitative approaches to analysing ultra-high contrast MRI (UHC-MRI) brain scans.
Clarke completed his first year of a Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland and is moving into medical imaging.
Cave is an engineering honours student at the University of Canterbury, specialising in chemical and process engineering.
Cheidan Moetara (Rongowhakaata, Tapuika) has completed her first year at the University of Auckland, studying a Certificate in Health Sciences.
Over the summer, she contributed to the Tairāwhiti Child Wellbeing Study, which aims to better understand what “normal” health looks like for tamariki (children).
She hopes this mahi (work) will support earlier intervention and more effective, community-led approaches to improving child wellbeing in the region.
Frankie Muir has completed her second year of medicine at the University of Otago.
Giving back to the community via healthcare has been a driving force in pursuing projects such as Mātai.
Her research focuses on classifying brain motion patterns using aMRI techniques and exploring their relationship with age, clinical diagnosis and amyloid status.
